The invention refers to an electronic locking cylinder provided with electromechanical rotational blocking.
The application of electronics for operating locking cylinders presents specific problems relating to the autonomy of functioning by means of incorporation of its own electrical supply source, and attaining a reduced size that can be extreme, in order to be able to place everything in the small space where it can reside in the planar vertical extension of a locking cylinder of European profile (in a shape reminiscent of a pear), since this European profile is used most often and in order to conceive the most unfavorable case of the cylinder types most often employed.
Most of the energy consumption is used for activating the rotational-blocking electromechanical device. The smaller the abrasion in this blocking device, the smaller will be the electrical consumption, and its autonomy of functioning will therefore be greater.
Many rotational-locking electromechanical devices are known in this regard, in which the locking is established by means of a piece that can be displaced vertically in the radial direction at the cylindrical rotational element for which one desires to block the rotational movement.
Among these devices, it is known that the positions of said vertically displaceable piece for rotational locking and release are directly determined by a rectangular cam disk, with rounded ends that is mounted diametrically in the rotational axis of output of an electrical micromotor. The locking position is established when the cam disk is vertical (its larger sides are in vertical position) and vice versa.
The autonomy of the device will be greater, the smaller the abrasion opposing the micromotor drive. For this, in this type of device, clearances are available above and below the ends of the cam disk situated in vertical position or locking position, which clearances are relatively large in size, in order to guarantee that the cam disk will not abrade when being rotated by the micromotor.
Consequently, the rectangular cam disk remains mounted like a brace. Considerable forces that are produced in order to entrain the rotating operation when the device is in the locked position are applied to said brace. These forces are integrally supported by the brace and are transmitted to the micromotor axis in the form of bending moments that produce deformations and permanent clearances, which exercise negative effects on the process, making it worse each time.
Another disadvantage of this type of known device is that it requires a great precision in order to place the cam disk in the vertical locking position; said micromotors lack means to guarantee said precision and require some other complementary means that detects and assures the vertical locking position, which implies expense as well as the necessary space for it that is of critical availability.
If said vertical locking position of the rectangular cam disk is not exact, said clearances at the ends of this cam disk will be greater and will have very negative effects: first, the bending torque on the micromotor axis will be increased, so as to force rotation; secondly a rotational moment will also appear on said micromotor axis; thirdly, the locking position will lose firmness and the device is less reliable.
The new electronic cylinder comprises: a double-body static frame, of European profile in the form of a pear, for activating the cylinder from the external and internal sides of the lock, each having external and internal rotational cores or rotors which rotate in the recess of said two casings of the static frame and each of which possesses a channel for introduction of the blade of a corresponding electronic key provided with an interactive electronic circuit that can be coded electronically; an electrical contact located in a radial housing of each of said external and internal rotors that communicates with its said key channel coinciding with the place where either one of the two opposing electrical terminals on the blade of said electronic key ends up, when it is inserted operatively in said key channel; an electrically conducting annular track that encircles each one of said external and internal rotors and has its internal face communicating electrically with each said electrical contact of these rotors; an electrical brush, which, in each one of these rotors, communicates electrically with the external face of said annular track and is elastically loaded against a second compression spring; an electronic processing unit that electrically communicates with said electrical brushes of the external and internal rotors; a vertical retractile tumbler that is mounted against a helical compression spring radially at said external rotor and that belongs to a rotational blocking electromechanical device of said external rotor that is electrically connected to said electronic processing unit; a first eccentric cam installed between said external and internal rotors; an external socket enclosed axially between said first eccentric cam and the external rotor; an internal socket enclosed axially between said first eccentric cam and the internal rotor; an external shoe that is installed with axial play between said first eccentric cam and the external rotor, which external shoe has a sliding fit with respect to the inside of said external socket and with respect to a first diametric planar lug of the external rotor, which is located in the recess of this external shoe; an internal shoe which is installed with axial play between said first eccentric cam and the internal rotor, which internal shoe has a sliding fit with respect to the inside of said internal socket and with respect to a second diametric planar lug which is located in the recess of this internal shoe; a first modular box that has dimensions adapted to the inside of a first cast hollow part attached to the external rotor that is made in said static double-body frame, and which first modular box contains said electrical brush of the external rotor, said electronic processing unit and said rotational-locking electromechanical device of the external rotor; a second modular box that has dimensions adapted to the inside of a second cast hollow part attached to the internal rotor that is made in said double-body static frame, and whose second modular box contains an autonomous electrical supply source and the said electrical brush corresponding to the internal rotor; an electrical conductor is connected between said first and second modular boxes.
Overall, said electromechanical device of rotational locking of said external rotor comprises an armature, an autonomous electrical micromotor that has a horizontal output axis of rotation and is located in a housing of said armature, a vertical plate cam disk, a retractile vertical tumbler located in said housing of the armature and sticking out through the upper plane of this armature, a helical compression spring mounted vertically between horizontal first and second walls of said armature and retractile tumbler, respectively, a base anchored at the bottom to said armature in vertical alignment with said retractile tumbler, and a ball disposed freely in a variable space bounded between said plate cam disk, retractile tumbler and base; said plate cam disk has a vertical cam disk front horizontally opposing said ball and projecting in continuous form; said retractile tumbler has an upper planar face in permanent contact with the periphery of said external socket with peripheral chamfer, and opposite to said upper planar face, said retractile tumbler has on the bottom an inclined plane of concave transverse profile circumscribed by an arc of greater radius than said ball and opposing this ball; said base has on the top a horizontal plane with concave transverse profile circumscribed by an arc of greater radius than said ball and which is in permanent contact with this ball and vertically opposing said inclined plane of the retractile tumbler; said ball has a diameter sufficient for simultaneous contact with said cam disk front, concave inclined plane of the retractile tumbler and concave horizontal plane of the base, and longitudinally to said concave horizontal plane, between said ball and its point of contact with said concave inclined plane, there is a maximum distance that is equal to the horizontal variation of projection between the sections that project to a variable extent from said front of the cam disk.
In this new device, the vertically displaceable piece that establishes the locking (in this case, the retractile tumbler) does not enter into direct contact with the cam disk (in this case, a plate cam disk), which will perform the original adjustment of the states of locking or release of the device. The relation between the retractile tumbler and the plate cam disk is established through said ball that can be freely displaced, supported along said concave plane of said base anchored to said armature, and by means of said concave inclined plane that belongs to the retractile tumbler itself.
The plate cam disk requires clearance only in its back, because the ball is free and its contact with the rotating plate cam disk does not produce appreciable friction, so that the micromotor does not produce a large amount of work and does not penalize the autonomy of the available electrical supply.
The locked position is and remains established when the plate cam disk presents the most projecting part of its cam disk front to the ball; then, this ball contacts the concave inclined plane of the retractile tumbler without losing simultaneous contact with the horizontal concave plane of said base and with said cam disk front.
In this locked position, when rotation is forced, the force produced on the retractile tumbler is in great part transmitted to the armature by means of said base. Only the remainder of the force is transmitted to the cam disk and in a manner that is hardly unfavorable for the output axis of the micromotor, since it is transmitted in a direction parallel to this micromotor axis and at a scant radial distance from the latter; moreover, this force only can be displaced along the most reduced clearance that in this case only exists at the back of the cam disk. This solution provides a great robustness to the device as well as reliable functioning.
Another characteristic of the invention is that there is a projection in the back face of the plate cam disk, which is located in the zone in which the front of the cam disk is most projecting toward the ball, said projection projects to an extent less than said clearance existing in the remainder of the back face of the plate cam disk that is not occupied by this projection.
Said projection makes possible a decrease of said dorsal clearance of the planar cam disk, precisely in the zone of this disk, in which will be produced the locked state; therefore, this projection does not change the no-abrasion conditions in the remainder of the rotational movement of the plate cam disk.
The great capacity for adaptation derived from the modular design for the first and second boxes that are interconnected by an electrical conductor must be emphasized. This concept can be applied to an extra-long static casing (for doors of special width, greater than normal); this can be done simply by making the interconnecting electrical conductor longer. Also, the concept can be applied to static casings of other profiles, which will always be wider than the European profile. Its application is also possible for remote electrical supply; for this purpose, an external electrical conductor is present that is connected to said first modular box and to a supply source that is external to this locking cylinder.
With respect to the electrical communication between the electronic processing unit and the electronic key, it is emphasized that this electrical communication is maintained during the entire rotational operation, due to the disposition of the annular track with respect to the electrical contact and the electrical brush. This makes it possible to establish an interaction between transmission of data and commands during the rotational operation, starting from the initial concrete moment in which the electronic key code has been validated with its simple introduction into the rotor channel.
The fact should also be emphasized that the annular track, the electrical contact of the rotor and the electrical brush are protected inside the cylinder.
The mounting and functions of the first eccentric cam with respect to the external and internal sockets, the external and internal shoes and the external and internal rotors will be explained in the more detailed description that is made below in relation to the attached drawings.
The preceding description refers to a cylinder that can be actuated by means of a key from both the external side of the lock as well as from its internal side.
When the internal activation is by means of a rotational button (substituting for the key rotor), the new cylinder of the invention comprises: a double-body static frame, of European profile in the form of a pear, for activation of the cylinder from the external and internal sides of the lock; an external rotational core or rotor, which possesses a channel for the introduction of the blade of a corresponding electronic key provided with an interactive electronic circuit that can be coded electronically, which external rotor rotates in the recess of the external body of said static double-body frame double-body; an internal rotational button provided with an axis that rotates in the recess of the internal body of said static double-body frame; an electrical contact located in a radial housing of said external rotor that communicates with its said key channel coinciding with the place where either one of the electrical terminals opposed to one another on the blade of said electronic key end up, when the key is operatively inserted in said key channel; an electrically conducting annular track that encircles said external rotor and has its internal face that electrically communicates with said electrical contact of this external rotor; an electrical brush that communicates electrically with the external face of said annular track and is loaded elastically against a spring; an electronic processing unit that communicates electrically with said electrical brush of the external rotor; a retractile vertical tumbler that is mounted against a helical compression spring radially to said external rotor and that belongs to an electromechanical device for rotational blocking of said external rotor that is connected electrically to said electronic processing unit; a second eccentric cam installed between said external rotor and the axis of said rotational button; a radial vessel axially enclosed between said second eccentric cam and the external rotor; a coupling device or coupling located in the recess of said external socket and between said external rotor and said second eccentric cam; a first modular box that has dimensions adapted to the inside of a first cast hollow part attached to the external rotor and that is made in said static double-body frame, and which first modular box contains said electrical brush of the external rotor, said electronic processing unit and said rotational-locking electromechanical device of the external rotor; a second modular box that has dimensions adapted to the inside of a second cast hollow part attached to the axis of the rotational button and that is made in said static double-body frame, and which second modular box contains an autonomous electrical supply source; an electrical conductor connected between said first and second modular boxes.
In this version of the cylinder of the invention, the electromechanical device for rotational locking of said external rotor is exactly equal to that of the previous version (external key, internal key), and there also exists an external electrical conductor for a supply source different than the one provided in the second modular box.
The assembling and functions of the second eccentric cam with respect to the external socket, the coupling, the external rotor and the internal rotational button will be explained in the detailed description that is given below with respect to the attached drawings.